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Open Doors for Refugees Response to Trump’s Ban

Today President Trump signed an executive order banning all refugees from entering the U.S. for the next four months, prohibiting all people from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days, barring all Syrian refugees indefinitely, and, when the refugee program resumes (presumably at half the current rate), giving preferential treatment to non-Muslims.

This blatantly anti-Muslim edict mocks the freedom of religion protection of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It’s also bereft of human compassion or moral compass. Finally, given the extreme vetting already in place, it’s also bereft of cause.

In a sad juxtaposition, today is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, reminding us of the six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis. It’s distressing to realize and to acknowledge that a great many Jews perished because the world would not give them refuge – a state of affairs chillingly similar to today.

We urge you to contact your U.S. Senators and Representative to register your strong opposition to this order and to send a strong message to the White House. This is an excellent site to help you do so: Refugee Council USA

Open Doors for Refugees continues to stand by its mission of helping refugees make a home in Madison. With that we also wish to integrate refugees into being thriving members of the community and thereby increase our city’s richness in culture and diversity. We want Madison to be a welcoming city where all feel safe and valued. We encourage our volunteers and supporters to remain informed of current events in this regard and to be engaged citizens and to embrace ideas of welcoming, inclusion and humanitarian aid to all.

Our goal remains to support those refugees who have already arrived to our community and to be ready for when more refugees are allowed to come. We are proud of America’s history of welcoming immigrants and refugees. The U.S. refugee resettlement program reflects the United States’ highest values and aspirations to compassion, generosity and leadership. Since 1975, Americans have welcomed over 3 million refugees from all over the world. Refugees have built new lives, homes and communities in towns and cities in all 50 states. We cannot let this tradition end.

Our work is not done. In fact, we have more work than ever as we begin to rebuild trust that the current refugee screening process is rigorous and that refugees in our community do not pose threat. We now have to speak out with even greater conviction that refugee resettlement in our country is the right thing to do. Our engagement with community leaders to build greater trust, understanding and support of the refugee crisis and how our community can rise to the challenge are integral components of our next steps. We at Open Doors are proud and grateful to have the strong support of so many in the Madison area.